Back to Black
by RainThestral93
Summary: "Time is the longest distance between two places." When Hermione agrees to look after Teddy in order to give Harry a much needed reprieve from baby-sitting, it all goes wrong when the curious toddler finds her time turner. Transported back into the Marauders era and forced to be a student until she can gain a permit to go home, who and what will bookworm Hermione Granger discover?
1. Meddling Hands

**Back to Black**

******Summa****ry: ** "Time is the longest distance between two places." When Hermione agrees to look after Teddy in order to give Harry a much needed reprieve, it all goes wrong when the curious toddler finds her time turner. Transported back to the Marauders era and forced to be a student until she can get home, what will she discover? And will she even want to go back once she's met Black?

* * *

**Meddling Hands**

"Hermione?" A distressed Harry called from the kitchen of the Burrow. Sighing, the bookworm slipped her bookmark into her novel, placing it down on the coffee table as she resigned herself to helping her evidently distressed friend.

She found him in the kitchen, baby Teddy Lupin perched on one hip, whilst he tried to screw the lid on a bottle of milk at the same time. She grinned – Harry had never really been the maternal type.

"Need a hand there?" she grinned, and Harry chuckled, embarrassed to come across quite so frazzled.

"If you wouldn't mind," he smiled, handing Hermione the little boy whose hair was a startling shade of neon blue at that moment in time. Teddy clapped his hands excitably to be in the clutches of his favourite Aunt.

"No problem," Hermione grinned. "I'll take him off your hands for a bit if you like – go help Ginny with whatever it is she's doing. I'm sure she'll appreciate the company."

"Thanks Hermione," the raven-haired wizard gushed, genuinely grateful for her expert help.

"Don't mention it," she smiled, carrying Teddy into the living room, where she allowed him to crawl around the room after she had scanned the room with her wand for any dangerous sharp or small objects which the toddler could impale himself on or choke on. Satisfied that she'd taken the necessary precautionary measures, she settled back into the plush leather armchair and submerged herself in words once more.

A chuckling noise at her feet after a good half hour or so alerted Hermione to the fact that she was still in the company of Teddy. Looking down at the boy with fondness, her eyes widened in horror as Hermione noticed the small golden object in the young child's hands.

"Teddy," she instructed calmly, trying not to get angry. "Give that to Auntie 'Mione, Teddy."

The child at her feet looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes, his chubby fingers spinning the miniature glass egg timer attached the gold chain. Hermione's voice was tense, and she could feel herself choking on her fear. She had _known_that leaving her time turner in her bag had been a bad idea – why hadn't she listened to her inhibitions.

Teddy shot her a cheeky smile, and Hermione held out her hand for the pendant.

Chubby fingers continued twisting the timer.

"Give it here, Teddy darling," Hermione simpered, hoping the child couldn't detect the degree of fear in her voice. "Harry!" Hermione yelled, growing increasingly anxious. At the mention of Harry's name, Teddy dropped the necklace and clapped excitably, cooing softly.

Hermione dived for the time turner – not wanting Teddy to get caught up in whatever era he had set it to and she raced out of the way. Having explained to Harry and Ron how a time turner worked, since the events of their third year, she quickly scrawled a note on a page from her book – the only time Hermione Jean Granger had ever defaced literature, apart from the page she'd been found holding whilst petrified. "Teddy found Time Turner. Have gone, will be back as soon as I can figure out how. Don't worry about me – Hermione x".

After a familiar chiming noise sounded, Hermione felt herself be sucked into a vacuum and she breathed in deeply, the sensation not dissimilar to dissaparation. Losing all concept of time, Hermione felt herself drifting, soaring, floating, even, until she came to rest in a very familiar setting.

* * *

Dumbledore's office, a place she had come to be very familiar with over her years at Hogwarts, stood in its resilient splendour, the familiar portraiture adorning the walls. A cough brought her to the attention of the other person in the room. If this younger, unwrinkled version of Professor Albus Dumbledore was surprised to see her, then he didn't show it.

"Hello," He began pleasantly, "And who might you be?"

Eyes wide and heart beating erratically in her chest, nineteen year old Hermione Jean Granger began to recount her story to a curious and amused Professor Dumbledore, careful to leave out details about her situation which would change the course of the future. Hermione was nothing but immaculate in her adherence to the rules of time travel – she was not one to be caught out, like so many wizards before her had been.

"I see," murmured Professor Dumbledore thoughtfully. "So this Teddy Lupin tyke has gotten you into a bit of a predicament, hasn't he."

Hermione smiled nervously, not really knowing what to make of the young man stood in front of her.

"You say you're friends with Harry Potter, James and Lily's future child?"

She nodded. Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"And this Teddy child is what, Remus Lupin's son?"

She nodded again. It seemed with some luck Teddy had transported her back to the era that the Marauders attended school. "Nymphadora Tonks," she supplied the answer to a question she had an inclination that the Professor wanted to ask. He nodded, smiling secretively to himself.

"Of course," he smiled fondly at her. "So how are you planning on getting back to the future?"

Hermione furrowed her brown in confusion. "I'm not quite sure, sir," she admitted. "You see, the Time Turner that brought me here wasn't set by me – it was set by Teddy. Only he will know its whereabouts."

"That makes things a little harder," Dumbledore admitted, "But rather than searching for the pendant – for I fear it may not even be within the walls of this castle," he suggested, "I think you should apply for a warrant for a new Time Turner from the Ministry of Magic."

Hermione's eyes widened in happiness – perhaps she would be able to return home sooner than she had initially thought.

"But I warn you, Miss Granger," Dumbledore told her solemnly, "It can take a long time in this day and age to be granted such a permit. Months, weeks, who knows?"

Her face fell. "But what shall I do in the meantime?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Well I would offer you a teaching position," the older wizard sighed, "But alas there are none free. The position of Defence Against the Dark Arts has only recently been filled. I fear there is nothing else for it than to enrol you as a student, and pretend you've transferred from another wizarding school. A cover story, of course, shall have to be invented, and you shall have to be careful what you say so as not to alter the course of history. What do you think?"

She swallowed nervously, "I suppose I could manage that," she conceded, and Dumbledore smiled down at her – the every-present twinkle in his eye, glinting through his half-moon spectacles.

"It seems fitting you should be placed in Gryffindor, does it not?"

She smiled, "What with Sirius, Lupin… and James and Lily?" She realised the nature of the situation – she would be attending school with James and Lily. Harry's parents – dead parents, at that. She swallowed once more.

"Yes," Dumbledore chuckled, "You seem to be very well acquainted with them, so I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. I'm sure you're aware of their troublesome natures?"

She grinned; think of the blessing they had all been in the provision of the Marauders Map. "Yes, I know all too well what they'll like."

"Well perhaps you can manage to get James and Mr Black on the straight and narrow," the headmaster chuckled. "Merlin knows I've tried."

"I'll introduce you tonight at the feast if that's quite alright with you," Dumbledore smiled. "There are some spare rooms in the Gryffindor tower – you can have one of those rooms to yourself for privacy. Perhaps I should cast a charm to make you appear younger, so that you fit in better with your peers?"

Breathing in, she nodded, as a bizarre sensation crept over her, as Dumbledore transfigured her into a younger version of herself.

"Much less conspicuous," he smiled. "Can you speak French?"

Hermione nodded. "Well then you can be a transfer from Beauxbatons Academy. Anything else we think of, we'll deal with when we come to it. I'll send a request off to the ministry immediately, explaining the situation and applying for a permit. Hopefully it should all be dealt with before you know it," he added, his tone consoling.

She smiled. "Sorry for the inconvenience," she apologised, feeling mightily embarrassed. The Professor waved it off.

"These things happened," he shrugged wryly. "It's one of the dangers of magic. Let's just be glad that you landed in my office and not in the lap of some poor unsuspecting student," he chuckled to himself.

Hermione smiled to herself – yes, perhaps this wasn't _quite_as bad as it had initially seemed. She should be able to keep up the façade for long enough to get back home – and who knows, she might learn something along the way. Meeting Harry's parents would certainly be interesting, she told herself, and she found a wave of curiosity washed over her as she thought about a young Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

The voice of Professor Dumbledore jerked her out of her reverie. "Sherbet lemon?"

She shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "No thank you."

Old habits die hard, she supposed.


	2. First Impressions

**A/N: **So here's another chapter - sorry it took so long to update! But I've been super busy with Maths revision and what have you, so updates have been sporadic, and my ideas somewhat lacking. I had like zero motivation up 'till now which is why I wrote this. I'd really appreciate feedback for this chapter, and it'll advance further chapters (now there's an incentive for you to review if I ever saw one *hint hint* ;)) so yeah... let me know what you think - love always - Beth :) xx

* * *

**First Impressions**

She waited in Dumbledore's office until it was dinner time, where she walked behind her old Professor, shoes clacking on the flagstone flooring as she kept her head down out of embarrassment. She'd never imagined returning to Hogwarts and having to go through the whole rigmarole of making friends all over again. What if nobody liked her? What if Lily thought she was a stuck swot and teased her? She shook her head – she was being silly; she was a fully grown woman, wholly capable of convincing a group of teenagers to be nice to her. She was simply being paranoid.

As she accompanied Dumbledore to the front of the Great hall, she glanced around seeing if she could recognise any of the students as parents of her friends back in the future – Frank Longbottom was easily distinguishable, as his sticky-out years could be seen from a mile away; and his bemused expression had been plastered on Neville's face for many a time. She stood awkwardly, picking at the robes she'd borrowed; feeling extremely self-conscious as the entire hall regarded her with curiosity.

Dumbledore called for attention. "Ladies and gentlemen it is my great delight to welcome Miss Hermione Jean Granger to Hogwarts. She's transferred from Beauxbaton's academy and I would be most grateful if you were to show her just how homely this castle can become. Please be on your best behaviour," he shot warning looks at the Slytherin table, who were scowling, and at the Gryffindor table, where Hermione's eyes lighted on a messy crop of black hair. Her eyes widened – for the brunette next to him was muttering, his eyes alight with a glint not dissimilar to that of Fred and George – for they had to be James Potter and Sirius Black. She managed a feeble smile, as the rest of the hall drank her in. "She'll be joining the Gryffindor house – make sure you welcome her most graciously," he smiled, "You may begin."

Food appeared on tables, and quite suddenly, Hermione was forgotten as she slipped quietly onto the familiar bench, helping herself to a portion of chicken casserole. Tucking into her food, she kept her head down and herself out of the limelight; which seemed to be mainly focused on James Potter and Sirius Black, anyway. Without any need for introductions, she was certain she knew the two individuals, for it was like looking at a hazel-eyed Harry Potter. And from what she'd heard of Sirius' school days, he never went anyway without his best mate, James.

There was laughter slightly further down the table, and Hermione looked up to determine the source of the noise. A blonde girl was wiping gravy off her face, scowling, and Sirius Black was being clapped on the back, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter, mirth evident in his eyes. She had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this carefree, childish teenager would grow up to be a surly, bitter and resentful individual – and as his eyes locked on to hers, she hastily looked away. It would do her no good to get mixed up with Sirius Black, so Hermione Jean Granger resolved to keep herself to herself.

"He's disgusting," a girl with dark auburn hair was shaking her head and regarding Sirius with contempt, "I can't believe he manages to get Olive wrapped round his finger like that by throwing _gravy_at her face." She tutted, and Hermione smiled it to her food. If the eyes – wide green orbs – weren't enough of a giveaway, then her contempt for the Marauders certainly was. This had to be Lily – Harry's Mum.

"Just ignore them, Lily," a quiet girl with short pixie cropped black hair smiled, stroking her friend on the back. "Just be glad Pothead's not done anything stupid yet."

"Yet," Lily muttered darkly, angrily stabbing her roast potato.

"Pothead?" Hermione asked politely, causing the two girls to look up at her.

"James Potter," Lily explained. "He thinks he's King of the Castle but really he's a pompous git. So we either call him Pothead or git." She giggled, "I'm Lily, by the way, Lily Evans."

"Hermione Granger," Hermione smiled.

"And I'm Alice," the girl with the pixie cut smiled. Hermione's eyes widened – it had to be Alice Longbottom (in the future); for she'd seen Neville's mum in St. Mungo's. "Potter has a thing for Lily but he feels the need to proclaim his love for her by riling her up as much as possible. The black haired kid next to him is Sirius Black – keep an eye on his hands at all times is all I'd say. He's slimy," she shuddered, and Hermione giggled – that sounded about right.

"Then the other boys are Remus Lupin," Lily explained with a smile. "He's alright – don't really understand why he hangs around with them really; he's much too smart for those blithering idiots."

"And then that mousy looking kid is Peter Pettigrew," Alice explained, and Hermione smirked at the apt adjective. Very fitting. "He's a little on the odd side – I recommend you stay away from him."

"Wow," Hermione grinned, "That's a lot to take in. But stay away from Potter and Black, got it." She smiled.

"So you transferred from Beauxbaton's, huh?" Lily asked. "I heard Magical transfers from school to school rarely happen – how come they let you move?"

This was the part Hermione had been dreading; awkward question time. "My parents died," she put on what she hoped was a look of tragedy. "And the only family I have lives in England – my great Aunt Muriel. But she's old and can't really look after me," she lied, "So Dumbledore arranged for me to come here."

"Sorry," Lily said, resigned. "That's horrible. Well if you need a hand getting to class or anything, Alice and I are happy to help. You seem really nice. Just unless you fancy landing yourself in detention _stay away_ from Pothead –"

"Missed you too Evans," James grinned, as he slid into the impossibly small gap between Alice and Lily, "Didn't stop thinking about you all summer. Give us a kiss?" He puckered his lips, and Peter guffawed at the gesture, whilst Lily rolled her eyes.

The rest of the Marauders shortly followed suit; for it seemed Sirius had ditched the blonde, Remus and Peter took the two seats outside of Hermione, and Sirius sat opposite Hermione.

"You can't be serious," Lily groaned, "Can you not leave me to enjoy my meal in peace?"

"Nah," James smirked, "I'm not Sirius – he is!" He pointed at Sirius, and chuckled at his own joke. This prompted another eye roll from Lily. "Don't deny it Evans – you can just feel the sexual tension between us – you want me and you know it."

The redhead eyed him coldly. Her whole demeanour had changed the split second James and his cronies had sat down. "Who's this?" James asked, nodding to Hermione.

"Well, _Potter_," Lily spat, "If you'd have been listening to Professor Dumbledore instead of whispering sweet nothings into toe-rag's ear, then you'd have heard that she's Hermione Granger, a transfer from Beauxbaton's."

"I was going to say," smirked Sirius, tossing his black hair out of his eyes as he did so – Hermione suspected to try and make himself look attractive, however he looked a little stupid as it flopped back into his eyes immediately, "I'd have thought I'd have recognised such a pretty little face."

Hermione, Lily and Alice all shared a look. Definitely slimy.

"You're disgusting," Lily remarked, "So much so you've put me off my food. What do you say Alice, shall we show Hermione the rest of the castle?" The smaller girl nodded, and Hermione shot the boys an apologetic look as she followed them out of the Great Hall – she didn't _want_to be on bad terms with her future Professor, friend and confidant, but needs must. Perhaps now she'd have the female friends she'd never had back in her future life.

* * *

"Phwoar," grinned Sirius, "She has a nice ass."

"Not as nice as Evan's, mind," James smirked; as the two boys watched the three girls sashay out of the Great Hall. "So that your conquest for this month then, huh, Padfoot?"

"Come on, with Evans as her bodyguard you'll need more than a month to crack her resolve," Remus Lupin chuckled. "She seems pretty smart."

"Pretty smart, huh?" Sirius laughed, "She's fucking gorgeous, that's all I care. Unless you want a piece of her, Moony?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't know, aren't we getting a bit old for this whole conquest thing?"

Sirius, James and Peter all shared a look, before shaking their heads in unison.

"Suit yourselves," Lupin shrugged, smiling wolfishly, "But I'm after a girlfriend this year. And this new bird's right up my street. So looks like we might have a bit of a competition going, Padders."

Sirius grinned at his mate, licking his lips. "Game on," he pretended to growl, and James and Peter laughed along with him.

"Whoever gets to Granger first gets 5 galleons?" Lupin offered, proffering his hand.

Sirius paused momentarily, as he contemplated, "Make it 10 galleons and I'm in." He grinned, and they shook, plans already formulating in their minds.

* * *

"Woah," Hermione laughed nervously, "That was weird. Are they always that –"

"Forward?" Alice finished, laughing, "Yeah. Especially Black. But usually he's a lot worse."

Hermione gulped, licking her lips nervously.

"Don't worry," Lily smiled, linking her arm through Hermione's. "We're more than a match for those Neanderthals – we'll keep you safe," she winked, and Hermione laughed lightly – glad to have already made friends. What on earth would Harry make of his fiery Mum, when she got back? If, she got back, she corrected, for her fate was yet undecided – Professor Dumbledore has said it would take weeks, months even, before she'd be able to go back home. She had to focus on the present – and try not to dwell too much on the future, or else she could unhinge the balance of time.

"You can't just keep running away from Pothead you know," Alice remarked, sighing. "It's only going to make him chase after you all the more you know."

"She's right you know," a portrait they passed remarked, and Lily bore into it with a withering look.

"I know Alice, I know. He's just so infuriating! I hate him!" She exclaimed, and Alice turned to address Hermione.

"James has been in love with Lily since our third year, and she hates him, but he's too stubborn to see that. For the past two years he's been thinking up ways to proclaim his undying love to her – from enchanting all the portraits to sing her praises to getting Peeves to follow her all day, leaving a trail of rose petals. It's annoying, sure but it's kind of sweet –" Alice was cut off by a very angry Lily.

"James Potter is anything but sweet, Alice, he's an infuriating little –"

"Lily?" A boy dressed in green Slytherin nose with a remarkably large nose protruding from his face, and a curtain of greasy black hair that cast shadow on his face stopped in front of them. Hermione's eyes widened – Professor Snape – it had to be; for she'd seen his memories in the pensieve, and it had to be them. He was just about the only Slytherin who would even consider _talking _to a Gryffindor. "Can I talk to you?"

"Get away from her, Snivellus," Alice remarked coldly, "You can't just call her a Mudblood and expect her to be your best friend again!"

"But I said I was sorry," he whispered pleadingly. Lily refused to meet the Slytherin boy's gaze, and was finding the buckle on her shoe extremely fascinating, as she allowed her friend to speak on her behalf.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it this time, I'm afraid," Alice remarked, as politely as she could. "Now can I please get through? We're trying to show Hermione the Common room, she's new." He spared her a glance, looking her up and down, before turning to talk to Lily.

"Please, Lily, I'm begging you." His tone was desperate, and Hermione couldn't help but feel a twinge of sorrow for Snape. He didn't fit in, past or future, she realised.

"Get out of the way." Lily said, quietly, her voice cracking.

"Please, Lily, it was an acci-"

Alice shoved roughly past Snape, seeing as he wasn't listening, and Hermione and Lily followed suit, resigned.

"What was that about?" Hermione pretended to be intrigued, even though she knew all too well what had transpired.

"We used to be best friends," Lily muttered, wincing at the memory, "But then he went and called me a Mudblood last year, and he's been trying to apologise to me ever since."

"Ah," Hermione muttered, not really knowing what else to say. "Just ignore him – you're better off without people who are prejudiced."

"Too damn right," Lily smiled. "Come on, the Common Room is this way."

Hermione smiled, not even concentrating on her surroundings as her feet automatically followed to two girls. She never thought she'd say it, but she was glad to be back at school. To be amongst books, the famous portraits, and the smell of hormones – but most of all to be amongst Harry's family. She knew how much it would mean to him to see her memories, once she returned. She smiled softly, gazing at the ceiling above her four poster, and drifted off to thoughts of the Marauder's wicked grins, Lily's bossy tone and Snape's sorry face, with a smile…


End file.
